Travel Destinations - Japan

Hiroshima: Fallout

Behind the sunny optimism of modern-day Hiroshima, its terrible history is far from forgotten. Gary Bowerman returns to a childhood obsession in a search for the city's lost souls

Nanjing. Srebrenica. Halabja. Rwanda. Cambodia. Auschwitz. As the bullet train slices a trail through western Japan, my handwritten list of 20th-century massacres is lengthening. Outside, a milky early morning sun catches the auburn foliage, enlivening the hillsides. Inside, my mood is subdued. Having just left Kobe, a city ripped asunder [ read more ]

Tokyo: Fugu Voodoo

There's an old Japanese saying 'To throw away life, eat blow fish', but why on earth would you? Nancy Lyon went in search of the toxic fugu fish and the bon vivant's who eat it

Japanese fugu, also known as the puffer or blow fish, is the very definition of icky – an ugly, scaleless fish with sneering lips, gooey skin and a talent for puffing-up to grotesque proportions when annoyed. However, despite its rather charmless appearance, fugu has intrigued foodies for millennia. The tomb [ read more ]

Kyoto: Zen and the Art of Geisha

Autumn is one of the best times to visit the ancient Japanese town of Kyoto. Simon Rowe shows newcomers the best places to catch a glimpse of a geisha or simply enjoy the city's back-street charms.

"Autumn gales drive the moon, its reflection falls on the clear river, cold as a great length of glassy silk", wrote the 12th-century Zen poet, Sesson Yubai.

He might have been perched on the banks of Kyoto's Kamogawa (Kamo River) as he scribbled his ode to Japan's most 'desirable' season. [ read more ]